# DESIGN.md: Teenage Engineering-style design system

Measured from https://teenage.engineering/ on 2026-10-15 by PikSpec (https://www.pikspec.com). An independent measurement of the rendered page, not Teenage Engineering's official design system, and not affiliated with Teenage Engineering.

Use it to build your own product in this design language: put this file in your project root and tell your AI tool (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Lovable, v0) to follow DESIGN.md. Never use the original's name, logo, copy or images; licensed fonts are replaced with the closest free Google Fonts.

To capture any other page, or get a ready project for your tool: https://www.pikspec.com/build-with-ai

HOW IT SHOULD LOOK
Build it in the design language of teenage.engineering, measured from the live site: it should feel designed by the same team as teenage.engineering — the same temperament, colour, type and density — for a different product. Never use teenage.engineering's name, logo, words or images.

Stack: use the one your project already has. Starting fresh: React + Vite + TypeScript + Tailwind CSS v4, with no UI kit (no shadcn/ui, MUI or Chakra) — their defaults would override this system. In a chat that shows one file (an artifact or canvas), build one HTML file instead, with the tokens below in its <style> block.
Use every value exactly as written. Do not round, rename, approximate or substitute a colour, size, radius, shadow or easing (fonts: see section 1). Anything not listed here does not exist in this system.

THE WEBSITE THIS SYSTEM COMES FROM
- Reference page: https://teenage.engineering/ — "teenage.engineering" (home page).
- Page frame: a top navigation bar and a footer.
- It uses 8 images, 4 of them large. Large, real product imagery is part of the look — leave clearly labelled image slots at those sizes rather than stock photos or abstract 3D shapes.
- Interaction: 3 buttons on one page.
- The page runs about 3 screens long at 1440px wide.
- Density is low: few elements per screen, generous space around each one.

HOW IT LOOKS (WHAT MAKES IT LOOK LIKE ITSELF, BEYOND THE VALUES)
- Almost entirely neutral: 100% of the page is painted in #000000 and #F1F2F2.
- The largest type (26.45px te-40) is light, not bold (300), in capitals.
- Very airy: text covers 3% of the page.
- Share of the painted page: #000000 96.1% (dominant, backgrounds); #F1F2F2 3.6% (supporting, text and drawings); #E5E5E5 0.2% (detail, text); #FFFFFF 0.1% (detail, drawings). Keep accents at these proportions; do not promote them to fills.
- Illustrations: One large illustration in filled shapes, in #F1F2F2 and #FFFFFF.
- Large images: Photographs, video or raster artwork cover about 84% of the page.
- Type as set (size, weight and tracking measured together; use these pairs): 26.45px weight 300 uppercase; 19.5px weight 100; 19.1px weight 100; 16px weight 100; 9px weight 100.

1. DESIGN TOKENS — PASTE INTO YOUR GLOBAL CSS
Allowed colours, with how the original uses each. Use no other colour, including in hover states:
- #000000 — 96.1% · backgrounds (var(--color-background))
- #F1F2F2 — 3.6% · text, drawings (var(--color-text))
- #E5E5E5 — 0.2% · text
- #FFFFFF — 0.1% · drawings
- #B2B2B2 — Text muted (var(--color-text-muted))
- #272727 — Border (var(--color-border))
Fonts — put these first in your global CSS (one import per font, so one that fails cannot stop the others):
```css
@import url("https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Figtree:wght@300;400&display=swap");
```
Font: teenage.engineering uses te-20 (body) and te-40 (interface) — its own licensed faces, not available to download. This kit uses Figtree for body and interface, the closest free match, already in the tokens. If you own the original, add it with @font-face and it is used first; to use another font, change the --font-* variables.
Keep every size, weight, line height and tracking exactly as listed whichever font renders.
```css
:root {
  --color-background: #000000; /* Background */
  --color-text: #F1F2F2; /* Text */
  --color-text-muted: #B2B2B2; /* Text muted */
  --color-border: #272727; /* Border */
  --font-body: "te-20", "Figtree", sans-serif; /* te-20 on the site; Figtree renders */
  --font-interface: "te-40", "Figtree", sans-serif; /* te-40 on the site; Figtree renders */
  --type-headline: 26.45px; /* Headline, weight 300 */
  --type-headline-leading: 29.3878px;
  --type-title-large: 19.5px; /* Title Large, weight 100 */
  --type-title-large-leading: 29.25px;
  --type-title-small: 19.1px; /* Title Small, weight 100 */
  --type-title-small-leading: 22.0408px;
  --type-body: 16px; /* Body, weight 100 */
  --type-body-leading: 24px;
  --type-label: 9px; /* Label, weight 100 */
  --type-label-leading: 13.5px;
  --space-8: 8px;
  --space-40: 40px;
  --duration-1: 0.2s;
  --ease-1: ease-in;
}
```
Tailwind CSS v4 (the default for new projects): put this after `@import "tailwindcss";`. It removes Tailwind's own palette, so only these colours exist as utilities:
```css
@theme {
  --color-*: initial;
  --color-background: #000000;
  --color-text: #F1F2F2;
  --color-text-muted: #B2B2B2;
  --color-border: #272727;
  --font-body: "te-20", "Figtree", sans-serif;
  --font-interface: "te-40", "Figtree", sans-serif;
  --text-headline: 26.45px;
  --text-headline--line-height: 29.3878px;
  --text-title-large: 19.5px;
  --text-title-large--line-height: 29.25px;
  --text-title-small: 19.1px;
  --text-title-small--line-height: 22.0408px;
  --text-body: 16px;
  --text-body--line-height: 24px;
  --text-label: 9px;
  --text-label--line-height: 13.5px;
  --ease-1: ease-in;
}
```
Tailwind CSS v3 only: extend the theme with these instead, and use no other palette:
```js
// tailwind.config — theme.extend
{
  colors: { "background": "var(--color-background)", "text": "var(--color-text)", "text-muted": "var(--color-text-muted)", "border": "var(--color-border)" },
  fontFamily: { "body": ["var(--font-body)"], "interface": ["var(--font-interface)"] },
}
```

2. BASE STYLES
```css
html { background: var(--color-background); }
body { margin: 0; font-family: var(--font-body); color: var(--color-text); -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -moz-osx-font-smoothing: grayscale; }
h1, h2, h3 { font-family: var(--font-body); margin: 0; }
a { color: inherit; }
:focus-visible { outline: 2px solid var(--color-text); outline-offset: 2px; }
```

3. COMPONENTS — MATCH THESE EXACTLY
```css
.nav { /* Default */
  background: transparent;
  color: var(--color-text);
  font-family: var(--font-body);
  font-size: var(--type-body);
  font-weight: 100;
  line-height: 24px;
}
.link { /* Inline */
  background: transparent;
  min-height: 70px;
  color: var(--color-text);
  font-family: var(--font-body);
  font-size: var(--type-body);
  font-weight: 100;
  line-height: 24px;
}
.link-2 { /* Inline 2 */
  background: transparent;
  color: #E5E5E5;
  font-family: var(--font-body);
  font-size: var(--type-body);
  font-weight: 300;
  line-height: 24px;
  /* recorded states: hover */
}
.button { /* Tertiary */
  background: transparent;
  color: var(--color-text);
  font-family: var(--font-body);
  font-size: var(--type-body);
  font-weight: 100;
  line-height: 24px;
}
```
Where a component lists recorded states, write those states using only the colours above; the capture saw that the state exists, not its values. Never invent a state colour.

4. PAGE COMPOSITION
- Dark interface on #000000. Keep that ground; do not add a light mode or alternate section backgrounds the system does not have.
- The opening screen carries a large image or video behind or across the heading. Leave a [content: hero image or video] slot there, at least half the screen wide; the opening is not text alone.
- Type: Figtree (standing in for te-20) for body; Figtree (standing in for te-40) for interface. Hierarchy comes from size and weight, not colour or decoration.
- Corners are square. Do not round cards, buttons or images.
- The system is flat: no drop shadows.
- Body text uses te-20 at around 16px, weights 100, 300, 400.
- Headings use the same family as body text; the largest heading is 39.67px.

HOW THE ORIGINAL PACES ITS PAGE (BORROW THE RHYTHM — THE OPENING, THE COLOURED BANDS, THE CARD GRIDS — NOT THE LIST; BUILD THE SECTIONS YOUR PRODUCT NEEDS)
1. Hero — about 900px tall (the original scroll-animates this band over 2189px; build it as one screen), centred 26.45px heading (weight 300) set low in the band, artwork behind the content.
2. Text — 96px tall, left-aligned 19.1px heading (weight 300), on #000000.
- Content runs 1308px wide with 66px side margins at 1440px; there is no narrower centred container.
- A 118px header scrolls away, transparent over the first section.
- The hero is 2189px (2.4 screens): about 900px tall (the original scroll-animates this band over 2189px; build it as one screen), centred 26.45px heading (weight 300) set low in the band, artwork behind the content.
- Sections share one background; they are separated by space and lines, not colour bands.
- A typical section is about 96px tall.

5. MOTION
Interactive elements change colour, background, border and opacity with the measured timing. Animate nothing else.
```css
a, button, [role="button"], input { transition: color var(--duration-1) var(--ease-1), background-color var(--duration-1) var(--ease-1), border-color var(--duration-1) var(--ease-1), opacity var(--duration-1) var(--ease-1); }
@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
  *, *::before, *::after { animation-duration: 0.01ms !important; animation-iteration-count: 1 !important; transition-duration: 0.01ms !important; scroll-behavior: auto !important; }
}
```
No scroll-triggered fade-ins, parallax, typewriter text or bouncing elements.

6. RESPONSIVE
- The design was measured at 1440px wide. Lay it out for that width first, then let it reflow down to 360px.
- Content sits in a column at most 1308px wide, centred, with 16px side padding on small screens.
- The largest heading scales fluidly: font-size: clamp(9px, 1.8vw, 26.45px). Every other size stays fixed.
- Break on composition, not device names: a row of columns drops a column when any column would be narrower than 240px; side-by-side splits stack when either side would be narrower than 320px.
- Spacing steps never change between sizes; use smaller steps from the same list where space is tight.
- On touch screens, every link and button has a hit area of at least 44 × 44px without changing its drawn size.

7. ACCESSIBILITY
- Text pairs that pass for body copy: Text on Background (18.7:1) and Text muted on Background (9.9:1).
- Use no other text-on-background pairing.
- One h1 per page, headings in order, landmarks (header, nav, main, footer), real buttons and links, a label on every field, alt text on every image, an aria-label on icon-only buttons.
- Every interactive element shows the :focus-visible outline above.

8. DO NOT (THESE ARE WHAT MAKE AI-BUILT SITES LOOK GENERIC)
- No drop shadows anywhere, including cards, buttons and images. (No box-shadow was measured on the page.)
- Square corners: border-radius 0 on every box. (No rounded corner was measured.)
- No gradients: not in backgrounds, text, buttons or borders. (No gradient was measured.)
- Only these colours: #000000, #F1F2F2, #E5E5E5, #FFFFFF, #B2B2B2, #272727. No new tints, no Tailwind defaults (slate, indigo, violet). (They are every colour that covers a measurable part of the page, and the colours its lines and drawings use.)
- Only the fonts in the tokens: Figtree for body; Figtree for interface. No other typeface, and no Inter, Roboto or system UI font unless it is one of these. (The page is set in te-20 and te-40; the tokens carry what stands in for them.)
- Headings and large text never heavier than weight 300. Do not make headlines bold to add emphasis. (Every size from 24px up is set at weight 300 or lighter.)
- No icon above every feature, no emoji, no decorative blobs, sparkles or glows. (None of these is part of the captured design; they are a coding model's defaults.)
- Build the sections your product needs, not the original's list. Give each one this system's look: its kinds of section (hero, text), its colours, type, shapes and spacing. (The style carries to any kind of site; the original's page was for a different product.)
- No glassmorphism, backdrop blur, glowing orbs, noise blobs or neon outlines.
- No row of three identical feature cards as the default section. Vary the layout from section to section: a split, a list, a single large statement, a table.
- No centred-everything hero with a pill badge, a gradient headline and two buttons. Lead with the most specific thing about the product.
- No filler copy: no "Unlock your potential", "Revolutionize", "Seamless", "Elevate", "Supercharge", "Next-gen" or lorem ipsum. Write plain, specific sentences a real company would publish.
- No made-up statistics, testimonials or customer logos. Leave a clearly marked [content: …] slot instead.
- Do not use teenage.engineering's name, logo, copy or images. This is its design system, not its content.

BEFORE YOU FINISH
- Search your code for every colour, font size, spacing value, radius, shadow and easing, and replace anything that is not a variable above.
- Check that no [content: …] slot has been filled with invented facts.
- Search your CSS for box-shadow and filter: drop-shadow. There should be none.
- Every border-radius is 0.
- Search your CSS for gradient(. There should be none.
- Every colour value in your CSS is one of the allowed colours. Nothing else, including in hover states.
- No text 24px or larger has a font-weight above 300.
- Every section, including ones the original does not have, uses only this system's colours, type, shapes and spacing.
- There is no placeholder copy (lorem ipsum, "Feature one", "Your headline here"). Every word is real.
- Take a screenshot at 1440px and put it beside the original. List every difference in colour, weight, spacing, alignment and imagery, and fix each before finishing. Then check 390px wide: nothing scrolls sideways and no heading runs off the screen.